The Possession-Spoon Chef Feeds the Empire - Chapter 14

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 14
“I’m Luben. I haven’t been here long myself.”
“……Hello, Luben.”
“Want some advice?”
The boy who introduced himself as Luben tilted his body slightly as he spoke.
“You don’t have to come here often. Just take your pay and leave, and I’ll show you around the Mansion in your spare time. I came to the Imperial City recently from the Fiefdom too, and if we both just stay in the oldest room, we’re both wasting time, right?”
“…….”
“Oh, you’re the cook, right? Want me to tell you what Osborn and Theo like? Don’t you want to score points with them too?”
Tap.
Luciel withdrew her hand in displeasure.
“That’s not my concern.”
“Suit yourself, then.”
Just as Luben was tidying his clothes to leave, Luciel coughed once more.
“Leave the window open.”
Bael, who watched the scene unfold, gave the order to Luben.
“And change the water bottle.”
At Bael’s command, Luben stopped in his tracks and tilted his head in confusion.
“But then I’ll have to come back later and close it, won’t I?”
Luciel’s eyes widened.
‘Is he actually that stupid?’
Or was he deliberately being insolent?
“Ah, because she’s coughing? Then I’ll just take her with me.”
As Luben reached out to drag Luciel along again, the light in Bael’s eyes turned cold and sharp.
“Let go.”
“Why so scary?”
“I said let go.”
“……Are you the master here?”
Luben gave a low chuckle, his tone dripping with derision. His eyes gleamed with an unpleasant light.
“I was trying to be nice, but this feels awfully small-minded.”
He murmured quietly.
“I didn’t come here to take orders from you, after all.”
Is he insane? Openly defying the master’s command?
Luciel’s eyes widened in shock, while Bael’s cold gaze fixed on Luben’s face.
“Judging by the fact that you still haven’t let go, it seems you can’t understand orders.”
His voice had dropped to a different register than when he’d spoken with Luciel moments before—quieter, heavier.
“What?”
“Theo certainly keeps some foolish people around him.”
The chilling aura radiating from Bael was so intense that Luben suddenly shuddered, his body trembling.
In that moment, Luciel slipped her hand free.
“Are you……jealous?”
Luben paused, composing his expression as he stared at Bael, then raised one corner of his mouth as if amused by the absurdity.
“…….”
“Theo and I are like brothers. You want to be that too, don’t you?”
“…….”
Bael’s expression was genuinely revolted.
“Of all the people in this world, you worship Theo.”
He let out a contemptuous laugh.
“With a head like that, you’ll get swindled badly one day.”
“What?”
“You have a sister, don’t you?”
At Bael’s sudden question, Luben’s brow furrowed.
“I do, but what’s that got to do with——”
“If Theo is drawing you close by calling himself your brother, it’s because of your sister. I may be slow to hear news, but I know that much.”
“What do you——”
Luben’s complexion changed in an instant. Bael did not stop.
“Theo started chasing women last year. He approaches them out of curiosity, and once he’s completely won their hearts, he tosses them aside again. It’s his hobby, I’m told. In a little while, neither you nor your sister will see Theo again.”
“How dare you say such things about my sister! Theo has said many times that he holds genuine affection for Lije!”
Luben’s face flushed red and blue as he snorted at Bael.
“So you already knew?”
Bael slowly leaned back against the bed and continued speaking.
“As long as you can become Theo’s appendage, it doesn’t matter what happens to your sister, is that it?”
Internally, Luciel admired what she was witnessing.
She had taken Bael for a mere child, but his rhetoric when addressing Luben was both vicious and masterful.
He found the other’s rawest nerve and struck it, yet his own composure never wavered for a moment.
As proof, Luben, who had been at ease moments before, was now contorting his face in fury and breathing hard.
In his narrowed eyes, indignant rage blazed.
“……Was it about changing the water that you asked?”
Luben picked up Bael’s water bottle with a mocking smile, then spat into it with a sharp hiss.
“……!”
Luciel stared at Luben in shock, but Bael did no more than raise an eyebrow in response.
“That’s all the water you’ll have until nightfall. Drink it if you want. Even if you ring the bell until your hands bleed, nothing will change. No one else will hear that sound anyway.”
His face twisted into a grotesque smile as he hurled abuse at Bael, then stretched his arm to point directly at Luciel.
“And if anyone asks, I’m blaming this girl here.”
“……What?”
In Bael’s eyes, a quiet fury kindled—one that had not been visible before.
“Looks like you’ve taken a liking to this girl. I heard you wolfed down the soup she made. So you do like women after all, hm?”
“……Your tongue is loose.”
Bael fixed Luben with a piercing stare. His blue eyes burned like cold, consuming flame.
“Well, even if it is, you won’t be able to do much about it, will you? Why, are you going to get up and hit me? Or report me?”
Luben smiled broadly as he spoke.
“I told you before, didn’t I? My family has served the Duke for generations, and my grandfather was among the Duke’s most trusted confidants. I was dispatched from the Fiefdom by Osborn’s own hand, and Theo and I are like brothers.”
He continued speaking with unmistakable smugness, now certain he had successfully provoked Bael.
“Osborn won’t simply believe what Bael says, will he? I’ll just blame the girl no matter what happens. If needed, I could even tamper with the ingredients she handles……and if things go wrong, she’ll end up on the streets, won’t she?”
“…….”
“Once she’s begging on the streets, she might have to sell something other than her cooking……”
‘I want to shove a rotten potato down that bastard’s throat.’
Luciel, seized by the violent urge, was just reaching for a pillow instead.
Boom——!
A resonant boom like tearing air crashed through the room.
Bael’s hand back glowed silver, and blue Mana rippled around him like an angry tide.
As if sensing the chill that ran down his spine, Luben’s footsteps toward the door froze mid-stride.
“What is this……Mana?”
He muttered in disbelief.
“You don’t mean Bael just……did that?”
Luben’s face went white as parchment.
He seemed to be comprehending in his mind what such spatial interference meant.
Even as he did, Bael’s gaze remained fixed on Luben’s neck, piercing right through it.
Pop—
“Gack!”
The pressure of Magical Power tightened around Luben’s throat, and he made strangled gasping sounds as his hands flew to his neck, pressing against the invisible force.
“You’ll……regret this!”
“Why would I?”
“Aila! Physician Aila won’t be able to treat you anymore, will she? If there’s another incident in this room, Osborn said no one will be able to see anyone—and Cain won’t be allowed in the Mansion either…… Cough! He said that clearly……”
“…….”
At Luben’s panicked threats, Bael’s expression grew even more menacing.
As the Magical Power constricting Luben intensified, he drew a Dagger from his waist.
Screech—
But Bael was faster.
He had already drawn the blade hidden beneath the bed and knocked Luben’s Dagger from his grip.
“You have no limits when it comes to threats.”
His voice was glacial.
In the midst of the tense situation, Luciel instinctively opened her Status Window.
A red warning light flooded her vision.
[Warning: Poison is further activating. Without cessation, life is in critical danger.]
The poison is activating?
Why?
Luciel bit her lip hard.
She didn’t know the reason, but she had to stop this.
Luciel’s mind raced frantically. Water momentarily weakened Magical Power.
Without hesitation, she grabbed the water bottle from the table and splashed it on Luben.
Splash——!
As the water poured over him, Bael’s Mana subsided, and Luben, freed from the pressure crushing his throat, burst into a fit of coughing.
“Cough! Cough! Ugh……this is my own spit!”
Luben wiped his face repeatedly, snorting in fury.
“You think I’m just going to let this slide? First, you’re fired, girl!”
“Stop spouting nonsense. Cain brought me here, and Jerome and the kitchen staff vouched for me.”
Luciel laughed lightly as she shot back.
“Jerome……Why would he……”
“Maybe because my connections are better than yours.”
“What?”
Luben stared at Luciel with genuinely bewildered eyes, his gaze trembling.
Look at that.
That actually worked?
“Better connections than Theo? Cain isn’t even a direct——”
“I never said I only had Cain.”
“What……?”
At Luciel’s words, Luben shook his head with a dazed expression.
“That can’t be……You can’t mean……”
“Yes.”
“The Duke?”
“Lucan, or……yes, let’s call him the Duke.”
Luciel managed her expression as it threatened to crack and smiled faintly.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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